Twitchy Says...

Film Critic, Indie Filmmaker, General Film/Art/Life Discussion

Published by Benjamin 'Twitchy' Strack under
Job,
news,
videos
on Wednesday, February 25, 2009

.This past summer I feel like I tried creating this blog and making it much too specific. As such, I failed when my schedule got tough and I no longer cared to devote the time to reviewing movies. So I figured I'd simplify it some. This blog is now where I can talk about my projects, my job endeavors, things I've found, movies I've seen, etc.

So the job hunt has not been going well. During the month of March, I will be expanding my search to Grand Rapids as well as Kalamazoo, and also be looking into being a cameraman for one of the news channels. For those of you who know me, you know I despise news production. So this is quite a reach for me to do so.

My ProjectsThe fraternity's national headquarters has asked me (and several others) to make some short videos to drum up interest in going to national convention this summer. I of course can't make a simple video, so I have a few ideas on how to spice up the simple demand.

I've had this idea on the backburner for a while. In the fraternity, we have a long, meaningful discussion that we call "To me to be a Sinfonian...", and I've been thinking for a while about turning it into a documentary. It would chronicle what being in this fraternity means to its members of different ages, backgrounds, walks of life, career paths, all the things that separate us; and all the things that bring us together.

I haven't delved into it yet, but I'm also hoping to practice my screenwriting skills by writing feature-length screenplays for the books in both the Dragonriders of Pern series, and the Sword of Truth series. This of course means I need to re-read the books a few times, which of course means a LOT of time.

I had an interesting idea to stir up my original feature-length screenplay I wrote last summer. It would make it more exciting, interesting, and structured. Its very... different. I'm sure I'll reveal the idea soon enough, but if you want to know, contact me personally.

What I'm WatchingI've really been into streaming stuff on Netflix for the past week or so. Some TV shows I've been into include NCIS, which is simply brilliant, and Moonlight, which is one of the best written vampire shows I've ever seen. It brings you into this very different world of vampires, and keeps hold of you by focusing on good story and not vamp shenanigans. Moonlight was cancelled last spring from CBS after 16 episodes, another fallen gem in the aftermath of the writers strike. Also seen the first two episodes of Dollhouse, and feel thusfar a bit letdown by our friend Joss Whedon.

In movies this week, I've watched Smart People, very entertaining. A few awful movies not worth mentioning. Saw Deja Vu which, other than having Val Kilmer in it, was very well done. Favorite movie for this week though has to be The Man from Earth. I never thought I'd sit through a movie that takes place in one room, not even any flashbacks. Purely dialogue, it keeps you interested for its entire hour and a half run. Here's to you, The Man from Earth!